Abstract
H3N2 and H10N3 avian influenza viruses (AIVs) circulate widely in poultry and have demonstrated the capacity to infect mammals, posing a significant threat to both animal and human health. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that H3N2 AIVs isolated in China exhibit complex gene constellations and have undergone extensive reassortment, acquiring genes from 12 different hemagglutinin subtypes of duck viruses, including H1, H2, H4, H5, H6, H7, H8, H9, H10, H11, H12, and H14. Similarly, H10 viruses have undergone extensive reassortment, incorporating internal genes derived from chicken H9N2 viruses as early as 2019. Following these reassortments, both H3N2 and H10N3 viruses exhibit cross-species infection potential. Notably, two H3N2 viruses acquired the PB2 E627K mutation after a single round of replication in mice, indicating a similar mutation could occur in human hosts under favorable conditions. Additionally, two tested H10N3 viruses demonstrated a higher affinity for human-type receptors over avian-type receptors, and the recent H10N3 reassortant genotype was found to be pathogenic in mice. These findings underscore the potential risk of avian-to-human transmission and highlight the urgent need for enhanced surveillance of H3N2 and H10N3 viruses.
Co-Author(s)
Authors: Jiqing Li, Yuancheng Zhang, Yaping Zhang, Xianying Zeng, Guobin Tian, Yongping Jiang, Liling Liu, Jianzhong Shi, Guohua Deng, Huihui Kong, and Hualan Chen
Affiliation: Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract Category
Notable outbreaks, field and molecular epidemiology, and surveillance in poultry